Massachusetts

Currently, Learn Everywhere legislation has not been introduced in Massachusetts. However, this page provides students and families with information about available options for earning credit for out-of-classroom learning. While Learn Everywhere allows for program providers to be approved to offer credit-bearing learning opportunities, for the programs listed below, it is the student’s responsibility to submit an application and complete the program requirements.

Academic Credit For Out-of-Classroom Learning

MassCore
A unit represents a full academic year of study, but it does not mean that students must “be seated” in a class for specific number of hours to receive credit for the course. Students may demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills represented by a unit of instruction. Students may earn credit for “testing out of,” recovering, or accelerating a course, depending upon individual district policies.

Districts also have considerable flexibility in designing their physical education programs, including the hours of instruction, and whether and how a student can meet the requirement through an organized program of instructional physical activity, including but not limited to: participation in interscholastic athletics, skating or swimming lessons through a private instructor or a community program, or independent study. This discretion is consistent with the authority to permit a student to fulfill academic course requirements by taking a course elsewhere that they deem to be equivalent.